Making conservation impactful in the next decade
Why should we care about the future of conservation? The dramatic changes of 2020, ranging from fires, to deforestation, to changing weather patterns, have intensified pressures on species threatened with extinction, and warn of the future consequences of climate change. Change must be enacted on all levels to ensure the longevity and survival of our planet, and to preserve our natural resources.
Join an expert panel of environmental and conservation leaders, featuring Nairika Murphy (CAS’12, GRS’12) Senior Director: Strategy, Impact, Change Management at Conservation International and Christoph Nolte, Assistant Professor of Earth & Environment at BU’s College of Arts & Science. The panel was moderated by Dr. Blake Alexander Simmons, a post-doctoral research fellow at BU’s Global Development Policy Center in the Pardee School of Global Studies. The three discuss how conservation efforts can better protect our land and natural resources by being more actionable, strategic, and ultimately impactful. They discuss new modes of conservation interventions, how organizations can maximize impact through good management and strategy decisions, well as their individual research and work in this field.
About the panelists:
Nairika Murphy is an experienced team leader and strategy consultant with a deep commitment to helping executives successfully implement strategy and manage change, spearheading new initiatives that ensure organizational excellence, and ultimately driving mission-driven impact. She is currently the Senior Director of Strategy & Impact at Conservation International and was previously a strategy consultant in Booz Allen Hamilton’s strategic innovation practice. Nairika holds an MA in Energy and Environmental Analysis from Boston University and serves on the Board of Directors of the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop.
Dr. Christoph Nolte is a social-environmental data scientist with an interest in the effective conservation of terrestrial ecosystems. His research asks: Where do conservation actions happen? What difference do they make? And how can we allocate limited conservation budgets most effectively? For answers, Christoph relies on large spatial datasets, satellite observations, economic theory, and quantitative causal inference. His current work focuses on the long-term conservation of private lands in the U.S. and Colombia. Christoph enjoys collaborations with governments, donors, land trusts, indigenous governments, and researchers. He works in four languages and conducted research in more than 20 countries in America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. In his free time, he likes to attract artists to nature to celebrate exceptional places. Post-Doc, Earth System Science, Stanford University | PhD, Natural Resources & Environment, University of Michigan
About the moderator:
Dr. Blake Alexander Simmons is an interdisciplinary conservation scientist interested in the overarching effects of human behaviors on the environment. His research investigates how behaviours impact social-ecological systems and what environmental, political, and psychological factors drive environmental decision-making, which can be used to develop behavior change interventions for positive outcomes for people and nature. His current work at BU’s Global Development Policy Center is assessing the global risks of China’s Belt and Road Initiative to biodiversity and indigenous communities, and identifying opportunities to utilize nature-based solutions to address the ongoing economic, climate, and biodiversity crises.